Civil War History Walk set for Sunday

The Near West Neighborhood Association has been aware for awhile that the area has special connections to the Civil War, said Jennifer Fukala, president of the association.

This weekend, residents and visitors are invited to learn more about that history during the first-ever Civil War History Walk.

Set for Noon to 3 p.m. Sunday with tours beginning on the hour, visitors are asked to meet at the Nancy Kimball Cobblestone House at 302 W. Chicago St. with a $5 suggested donation benefiting the neighborhood association's improvement efforts, Fukala said.

Fukala said she had been thinking of some sort of Civil War tour through the neighborhood.

"We have been aware for awhile that there is a Civil War connection here," she said.

Then, one of the resident volunteers with the neighborhood association volunteered his services. Jim Zingales is a Civil War re-enactor and portrayed General William Francis Lynch — one of those Elgin connections — at a recent Cemetery Walk for the Elgin Historical Society.

He will reprise that role on Sunday.

Lynch Street was named for General Lynch — a local boy who became a Civil War general. "The city of Elgin, in honor of his service, purchased a home for him along this street," Fukala said.

Janelle Walker/The Courier-News

Tours for the Civil War History Walk in Elgin begin on the hour and visitors are asked to meet at the Nancy Kimball Cobblestone House at 302 W. Chicago St.

Tours for the Civil War History Walk in Elgin begin on the hour and visitors are asked to meet at the Nancy Kimball Cobblestone House at 302 W. Chicago St. (Janelle Walker/The Courier-News)

The home originally faced Lynch Street, but due to development of the neighborhood it came to have an address at 35 Leonard St., she said.

"The back of the house in now its front," Fukala explained.

Other connections to the Civil War and the near west side of Elgin are through the Wilcox family.

A deacon at the First Baptist Church, John S. Wilcox, along with the Rev. Benjamin Thomas were among the first from Elgin to enlist in the 52nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

In November 1861, Wilcox fought in the Battle of Shiloh, Fukala said.

Wilcox is also believed to be instrumental in bringing Elgin's "contraband" — two train boxcars of freed slaves — to Elgin. Those freed slaves became the first African American settlers in Elgin.

It is fortunate, but a coincidence, that the event was planned a month before "The Civil War Experience" is set for Elgin.

That event is a reenactment camp set to take place Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11, on city-owned land off Route 31 and adjacent to the Elgin Mental Health Center campus.

"That added fuel to our fire," to host the walk, Fukala said when she found out about the reenactment event.

"What a perfect time to do it when there is a buzz about this already. We are already partnered with the museum on other projects so it just made sense to tell the story in a different way and as a tool to get everybody excited about the event this summer," she said.

One of the projects the association has been working on with the historical society is the repair and renovation of the Nancy Kimball House. The cobblestone house on West Chicago Street is in the process of having its north wall rebuilt. Later, the home is set to become a classroom of sorts with information about the neighborhood, traveling exhibits, and space for home renovation classes in its basement.

For information, go to the Near West Neighbors Association of Elgin Facebook page.